Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Oyster-Adams girls, Paul boys win Capital Cup Championship

As
the Tuesday afternoon before Thanksgiving dimmed into evening, the results of
the Capital Cup Championship provided two winning schools. No school left the
Bell High School field without a first-place trophy.

Everyone
— from players, classmates, parents, teachers and community members — had
plenty to be grateful for.

The
Oyster-Adams Bilingual School community could celebrate and rally around an
incredible season from their girls soccer team that culminated in a 6-0
championship-game victory over Paul Public Charter School.

The
Paul community, meanwhile, didn't want to leave the site of their boys team's
first championship, a 7-1 triumph over Oyster-Adams that was simply a cherry on
top of what's been a school-uniting first season of having full DC SCORES
programming at their school.

And
everyone in attendance for the conclusion to the middle school season — from
the dozens of alumni; to the former elementary school coaches; to the parents;
to the volunteers; to the DC SCORES board members — could celebrate the presentation
between games of a $10,000 check to DC SCORES from longtime supporter Mike
Wagener of Soccer '94, which will allow us to continue to expand our
Arts/Academics/Athletics model into more schools like Paul.

The
afternoon ended a fall season that featured a record 31 middle school teams
representing 17 schools and came a day after the D.C. United club team Harrison
eked out a 3-2 victory over Cesar Chavez Parkside in the first DC SCORES co-ed middle
school championship game.

The
Oyster-Adams girls team showed how a season together on the pitch can build
great chemistry. On each possession, there were passes of every variety —
across the field, back to the goalie, up the sideline, touch passes, you name
it. The Tigers ran a smooth, methodical offensive attack that Paul didn't have
an answer for.

The
game went like this: Four goals in the first half; two goals in the second
half; then the final whistle and a loud, well-deserved celebration for a team
that got better — and even better — all season by working together. Stephanie
G. was awarded the MVP trophy, but she quickly shared it with her
teammates.

It
was clear from watching the Tigers play that DC SCORES, true to its mission,
had "built a team" on the soccer field.

Before
the boys game started, Wagener joined DC SCORES Executive Director Amy
Nakamoto and Board Chair Chas Roades at midfield to present the organization
with the big $10,000 check. The Paul and Oyster-Adams captains posed for
pictures with Wagener, Nakamoto, Roades and the check, but it wasn't hard to
tell they were itching to play.

A
year ago, Paul played an excellent Capital Cup but lost in excruciating fashion
— after coming back from a 2-0 deficit — when Lincoln scored the game-winning
goal as time expired. Coach Larmar Hyde knew how much his team, back in the
championship game, wanted to have a different feeling when this year’s final
whistle pierced the cold air.

"This
year they came out excited to play in the finals again, hopefully not to make
the same mistakes as last year," said the third-year coach.

It
didn't take long for Paul's group of experienced players to go on the
offensive. On the sideline, DC SCORES Brightwood Education Campus coach Shannon
Nelson beamed with pride as she watched five of her former players — all a part
of Paul's nine on the turf surface — race up and down the field, controlling
the ball and then scoring off a hard shot from outside the goal box that just
snuck by the Oyster-Adams goaltender, 1-0. Then, less than a minute later,
scoring again on a big shot from the left side of the field, 2-0.

Had
the players improved since they started playing organized soccer under Nelson's
watch in third or fourth grade?

Nelson
didn't have to answer that one. In watching the smooth strides and ball control
exhibited by players like Ibrahim S., 13 — who would later be named one of
three MVPs — it was obvious that countless DC SCORES practices and games had
molded future high school players.

The
Oyster-Adams boys, who won the Capital Cup two years ago, had their chances,
but just couldn't quite convert. Paul, on the other hand, controlled the ball
and took advantage of seemingly every opportunity it had to put a shot on
net.

"Based
off last year, they've learned a lot," Hyde said afterward. "They
adopted to my philosophy, which is basically possession style of soccer that
consists of passing and moving, making sure that you always keep the ball at
all times."

It
was 4-1 at halftime, then 5-1 ... 7-1 ... celebration time! There was no
late-game drama this year, and afterward everyone in a Paul uniform with a
medal around their neck — boys and girls — could smile, knowing how much their
program has accomplished.

Hyde said that the
soccer success and the preparation for the Slam! — which has galvanized many
excited and proud teachers and school administrators — has strengthened the
Paul community, building a tight-knit team regardless of a game's outcome.

"It
brought the Paul community together a lot," he said. "We've got a lot
of faculty members helping out with the Poetry Slam!, and it brings the kids
together even more not just on the soccer field but outside the soccer field as
well."